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daily devotional
"Mighty to save."-Isaiah 63:1.
BY the words "to save" we understand the whole of the great work of salvation,
from the first holy desire onward to complete sanctification. The words are
multum in parro: indeed, here is all mercy in one word. Christ is not only
"mighty to save" those who repent, but He is able to make men repent. He will
carry those to heaven who believe; but He is, moreover, mighty to give men new
hearts and to work faith in them. He is mighty to make the man who hates
holiness love it, and to constrain the despiser of His name to bend the knee
before Him. Nay, this is not all the meaning, for the divine power is equally
seen in the after-work. The life of a believer is a series of miracles wrought
by "the Mighty God." The bush burns, but is not consumed. He is mighty to keep
His people holy after He has made them so, and to preserve them in his fear and
love until he consummates their spiritual existence in heaven. Christ's might
doth not lie in making a believer and then leaving him to shift for himself;
but He who begins the good work carries it on; He who imparts the first germ of
life in the dead soul, prolongs the divine existence, and strengthens it until
it bursts asunder every bond of sin, and the soul leaps from earth, perfected
in glory. Believer, here is encouragement. Art thou praying for some beloved
one? Oh, give not up thy prayers, for Christ is "mighty to save." You are
powerless to reclaim the rebel, but your Lord is Almighty. Lay hold on that
mighty arm, and rouse it to put forth its strength. Does your own case trouble
you? Fear not, for His strength is sufficient for you. Whether to begin with
others, or to carry on the work in you, Jesus is "mighty to save;" the best
proof of which lies in the fact that He has saved you. What a thousand mercies
that you have not found Him mighty to destroy!
"Beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me."-Matthew 14:30.
SINKING times are praying times with the Lord's servants. Peter neglected
prayer at starting upon his venturous journey, but when he began to sink his
danger made him a suppliant, and his cry though late was not too late. In our
hours of bodily pain and mental anguish, we find ourselves as naturally driven
to prayer as the wreck is driven upon the shore by the waves. The fox hies to
its hole for protection; the bird flies to the wood for shelter; and even so
the tried believer hastens to the mercy seat for safety. Heaven's great harbour
of refuge is All-prayer; thousands of weather-beaten vessels have found a haven
there, and the moment a storm comes on, it is wise for us to make for it with
all sail.
Short prayers are long enough. There were but three words in the petition which
Peter gasped out, but they were sufficient for his purpose. Not length but
strength is desirable. A sense of need is a mighty teacher of brevity. If our
prayers had less of the tail feathers of pride and more wing they would be all
the better. Verbiage is to devotion as chaff to the wheat. Precious things lie
in small compass, and all that is real prayer in many a long address might have
been uttered in a petition as short as that of Peter.
Our extremities are the Lord's opportunities. Immediately a keen sense of
danger forces an anxious cry from us the ear of Jesus hears, and with Him ear
and heart go together, and the hand does not long linger. At the last moment we
appeal to our Master, but His swift hand makes up for our delays by instant and
effectual action. Are we nearly engulfed by the boisterous waters of
affliction? Let us then lift up our souls unto our Saviour, and we may rest
assured that He will not suffer us to perish. When we can do nothing Jesus can
do all things; let us enlist His powerful aid upon our side, and all will be
well.
Ephesians 2:8-9
(8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is
the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.
When we first turn to Ephesians 2:8-9, the first thing we notice is that we are
confronted with a whole list of spiritual-sounding words: grace, saved, faith,
gift, works. Even those of us who have been in God's church for many years and
who may clearly understand each of these words individually, are slowed down in
our comprehension of these verses when faced with such terms presented one
after the other.
So let us take a very brief Greek lesson. Please take the time to study these
words in more detail. Here are the key terms contained in this scripture in
English and Greek, the Strong's Concordance reference number, and, to make the
meanings clearer, other English terms translated in the New Testament from the
same Greek words:
Grace (#5485): charis (khar'-ece). Also translated as favor, thanks, thank,
pleasure.
Saved (#4982): sozo (sode'-zo). Also translated as make whole, heal, be whole.
Faith (#4102): pistis. Also translated as assurance, believe, belief, those who
believe, fidelity.
Gift (#1435): doron. Also translated as present, offering.
Works (#2041): ergon. Also translated as deed, doing, labor.
We have just learned that ergon is the original Greek for the English word
"works." It does not appear to be a very difficult, ambiguous, or confusing
term. But what do the many people and churches who claim that works are not
required perceive "works" to be?
Opinions vary. One group perceives works to mean the whole law in general. A
second group perceives works as specific portions of God's law, which they look
upon as being "Jewish" or "Old Covenant," or that they are just not willing to
keep and teach. A third group, amazingly enough in their rejection of it,
perceives this term as meaning works of charity in general!
Individuals or groups who choose to substitute the word "law" for the word
"works" in Ephesians 2:8-9, and who thus say that New Testament Christians do
not have to keep God's law, do not appear to mean it totally and literally.
Instead, most of them reserve the right to choose which parts of the law they
wish to keep ("You shall not kill," "You shall not steal," etc.) and those that
they do not wish to keep ("Remember the Sabbath," holy days, tithing, clean and
unclean meats, etc.). God has nowhere given authority to His people to be
selective in these matters, thus this stance toward the law is inconsistent and
even hypocritical.
the church of God has always agreed one hundred percent with those who say that
salvation is a gift, and that a Christian cannot earn salvation by charitable
works or by obedience to God's law. However, obedience is a condition we must
meet before God will give us His free gift of salvation. New Testament evidence
is overwhelming on the matter. Here are just a few verses:
· And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit,
which God has given to those who obey him. ( Acts 5:32)
· He who says, "I know him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and
the truth is not in him. ( I John 2:4)
· So He said to [the rich young ruler], "Why do you call Me good? No one is
good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the
commandments." ( Matthew 19:17)
· If you love Me, keep My commandments. ( John 14:15)
The apostle Paul, in Ephesians 2:8-9, does not say that works are not required
at all. The purpose of his statement is to show that works do not save us, but
that grace and faith do! In fact, the very next verse, verse 10, shows that God
calls members of His church for the very purpose of performing good works: "For
we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" ( Ephesians 2:10).
The apostle's language is very clear. God desires us to walk in good works, and
He has prepared our spiritual educational process so that we will learn to do
them. Doing good works in the name of Jesus Christ is a major part of the
purpose for the life of each true Christian. We cannot truly be Christians
without them!
John Plunkett
>From Faith Without Works
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daily devotional
Evening ...
Daniel 9:26
The Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself.
Blessed be His name, there was no cause of death in Him. Neither original nor
actual sin had defiled Him, and therefore death had no claim upon Him. No man
could have taken His life from Him justly, for He had done no man wrong, and no
man could even have lain Him by force unless He had been pleased to yield
Himself to die. But lo, one sins and another suffers. Justice was offended by
us, but found its satisfaction in Him. Rivers of tears, mountains of offerings,
seas of the blood of bullocks, and hills of frankincense, could not have
availed for the removal of sin; but Jesus was cut off for us, and the cause of
wrath was cut off at once, for sin was put away for ever. Herein is wisdom,
whereby substitution, the sure and speedy way of atonement, was devised! Herein
is condescension, which brought Messiah, the Prince, to wear a crown of thorns,
and die upon the cross! Herein is love, which led the Redeemer to lay down His
life for His enemies! It is not enough, however, to admire the spectacle of the
innocent bleeding for the guilty, we must make sure of our interest therein.
The special object of the Messiah's death was the salvation of His church; have
we a part and a lot among those for whom He gave His life a ransom? Did the
Lord Jesus stand as our representative? Are we healed by His stripes? It will
be a terrible thing indeed if we should come short of a portion in His
sacrifice; it were better for us that we had never been born. Solemn as the
question is, it is a joyful circumstance that it is one which may be answered
clearly and without mistake. To all who believe on Him the Lord Jesus is a
present Saviour, and upon them all the blood of reconciliation has been
sprinkled. Let all who trust in the merit of Messiah's death be joyful at every
remembrance of Him, and let their holy gratitude lead them to the fullest
consecration to His cause.
Luke 6:47-48
(47) Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will
shew you to whom he is like: (48) He is like a man which built an house, and
digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the
stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was
founded upon a rock.
Matthew 7:24
(24) Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will
liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
In this parable, Jesus describes one who hears His words and does them as a man
who, when building his house, digs his foundation deeply and upon rock. When a
flood threatens it, the house remains intact on its secure base.
Jesus' metaphor in the parable is apt: A man's character is like a house. Every
thought is like a piece of timber in that house, every habit a beam, every
imagination a window, well or badly placed. They all gather into a unity,
handsome or grotesque. We decide how that house is constructed.
Unless one builds his character on the rock-solid foundation of God's Word, he
will surely be swept away by the flood now inundating the world. As I
Corinthians 3:11 says, "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which
is laid, which is Jesus Christ."
Of the two builders in the parable, one is a thoughtful man who deliberately
plans his house with an eye to the future; the other is not a bad man, but
thoughtless, casually building in the easiest way. The one is earnest; the
other is content with a careless and unexamined life. The latter seems to want
to avoid the hard work of digging deep to ensure a strong foundation, and also
takes a short-range view, never thinking what life will be like six months into
the future. He trades away future good for present pleasure and ease.
The flood obviously represents the trials of life. Frequently, the trials of
life descend upon us either through our own lack of character or because of
events in the world around us. Is our house strong enough to withstand the
onslaught of the horrendous events of the end time? Can it even withstand our
own weaknesses?
John W. Ritenbaugh
>From The Flood Is Upon Us!
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